10 Things I Recently Learned

It's been a few weeks since Albert made an appearance, so the time frame of knowledge expands to encompass those missing weeks. Besides, I learned a lot while I was away and sharing it with you is important to me.

1. I Am Incredibly Lucky
I know many people say this, but I truly do have the best wife in the world. Over our nearly three years together, she's put up with a lot of headaches, uncertainty, frustration and questions and through it all, she's stood by me. There have definitely been good times too, but she never wavers in her support of me and what I want to do with my life and that reminds me every day how lucky I am to have her. I love you Baby!

2. Life Isn't That Bad... Ever
While being in the Dominican was restful and full of fun, it was also an educational experience for me. Seeing the same cast of characters working every day with a smile on their faces, knowing they were making what we consider pocket change really opened my eyes. The frustrations I experience on a daily basis are nothing compared to what it could be like; a busy day at the restaurant puts more money in my pocket in a day than these guys make in a week, so what am I complaining about? Perspective is a very cool thing.

3. Emily Grace is Awesome!
My niece is without a doubt the cutest child on the face of the Earth. Devilish grin, big brown eyes and just enough vocabulary for everything to be insanely cute and make your heart melt. The nightly "Hi Shermie. Good night. See you soon," followed by a kiss was too cute, not to mention the refrain of, "Bucky, horses!" that accompanied our ride to the airport last Saturday. She is going to be a heartbreaker one day.

4. Positive Spins
Less hours at the restaurant and the decline of The Love of Sports would normally have made me really, really angry and frustrated. While I'm still kind of crusty about the restaurant, the added time it will be providing me is a good thing. I get to do the things that truly make me happy; cooking dinners for Sarah, hanging out with Luke and working on my personal projects, both written and around the house. Life is too short to be surly all the time.

5. Didn't Miss Much
Before we left, sports was a very, very integral part of my daily routine. I mean, I wrote about the damn stuff countless times a day and spent hours on ESPN and various other sites. After being away from it for the last couple weeks, I'm kind of wondering what the big deal was to begin with? I love what I do, but not much really changed in two weeks. The stories are pretty much the same today as when I left. Clearly, I can spend less time with the sports page and more time with the pug dog than I was before hand. And Sarah too...

6. I Know My MMA
One thing I did miss was UFC 97 and I wish I hadn't, simply because it proved I know my shit when it comes to Mixed Martial Arts. Chuck Liddell got knocked the fuck out, proving a point I made a couple weeks back that his time has come and gone. Furthermore, Anderson Silva was wholly unimpressive yet again, earning a decision win over Thales Leites that Dana White called "disappointing" or something like that. Wonder if anyone else is thinking my claiming GSP as the best fighter on the planet makes a bit more sense now?

7. Exploring the Options
Even though I'm old hat at moving, I truly hate doing it. Packing sucks, lugging furniture makes me sore and I just dislike upheaval. That being said, we're on the lookout for better options once again. Not that we don't like it here - we love our place and are finally just getting everything situated and laid out the way we like it - but the economic realities and opportunities are more important than a great view, so we're keeping our eyes on the rental properties in Cranbrook. Half the rent for the same kind of space and closer to work for Sarah just makes too much sense... and cents.

8. Congratulations Jamie and Brianne!
Not only did my cousin and hi super-fantastic woman get hitched, but they also welcomed Calvin James into the world just before we left for our trip. Congratulations you two (now three) - we couldn't be more happy for you!

9. See You in November
Since the above mentioned family members couldn't make it to our festivities for obvious reasons, we're planning a trip to them in early November. Albuquerque here we come! Did I mention that I might also be able to work an MMA interview at one of the best fighting teams in the world into the equation if we get down there?

10. Rapid Reader, As Long As I Like It
I tore through Chris Jericho's autobiography (pretty enjoyable if you like wrestling) and three Alex Cross series books while we were on vacation, as mentioned yesterday. That's a combined 2000+ pages which, considering there was a ton of other stuff to do too, is pretty impressive. It also makes it pretty funny that I couldn't get through more than 50 pages of the book everyone from work told me was awesome and a must-read. Tyler (my boss) lent me Wilbur Smith's River God and within 50 pages it was decided that I didn't have any interest in fighting through it. Fantasy tales set in ancient Egypt just aren't my thing. Suplexes and serial killers sounds better to me.